Barbodes carnaticus was described by Jerdon (1849) from Bhavani river, Nilgiris. The placement of this species in the genus Barbodes must be examined. It is closer to Puntius and needs a new generic name (M. Arunachalam pers. comm.).

Justification:
Although the southern Kerala population of Barbodes carnaticus is thought to be a different species, the overall distribution ofBarbodes carnaticus is very wide and with no perceived population declines in spite of some specific threats identified. The species is therefore assessed as Least Concern.

There is no information on the population of this endemic barb. Reports from southern Kerala (Thomas et al. 2002) consider B. carnaticus to be a rare species. There are also reports of past decline in the catches of B. carnaticus (Talwar and Jhingran 1991). A recent study from Chalakudy River (Manojkumar and Kurup 2010) indicated that the growth coefficient K of this species is between 0.5-0.65.

Barbodes carnaticus prefers large pools in rivers and streams (Daniels 2002), where the adults have a tendency to hide under bedrock, boulders and within caves although M. Arunachalam (pers. comm.) indicates the species to be a 'sporty' fish. They feed on the fruits and seeds that fall from the canopy above. The adults migrate upstream for spawning and breeds in the flood waters along rivers during the monsoons. The fry can be found in these waters during September to December (Daniels 2002). The young of B. carnaticus are seen in groups along the banks of rivers and reservoirs, while the mature carps are rarely seen along the banks (Biju 2005). Longevity of the species which was estimated as 4-5 years (Manojkumar and Kurup 2010) is doubtful (M. Arunachalam, R. Kumar pers. comm.).

B. carnaticus is threatened by a wide range of factors including decline in habitat quality due to destructive fishing practices such as poisoning and dynamiting, altered river flow due to construction of dams, competition with exotic and transplanted carps and pollution from point sources.

No conservation efforts are in place. The demography and threats to B. carnaticus at key habitats need to be determined to devise appropriate conservation plans. Milt cryopreservation and captive breeding protocol have been developed at NBFGR (V.S. Basheer pers. comm.).